Posted on 06/27/2005 7:58:15 AM PDT by Kitten Festival
Seinfeld was a television marvel. Perhaps the most successful situation comedy series of all time, it ran from 1989 to 1998, and has become an omnipresent aspect of our lives as it continually runs in syndication and lives on in best-selling DVD box sets, making fortunes in the hundred millions for both of its co-creators.
But there is yet another facet of Seinfeld at which we can marvel: the cast of characters on the show weirdly foreshadowed the rise to prominence of a large component of the dominant urban liberal wing of the Democratic Party. With a nod to Brian Anderson’s South Park Conservatives and a quick glance backward at yesterday’s Matt Bai New York Times Magazine article King of the Hill Democrats, let us join the craze for television series politics, and call them Seinfeld Liberals.
Their emergence has not been beneficial for our nation.
Hollywood has long provided role models and templates for Americans – just as books and stories always have (Washington and the Cherry tree, Abe Lincoln studying by candle, the always-inventive Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison, the heroic obstinacy of U.S. Grant and George Patton).
In recent decades, a certain cynicism about the character of Americans seems to have taken hold, at least in the filmed and televised entertainment we see.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
"role models that any sane person would want to emulate"
Sane? He's talking about liberals.
Low-talkers, high-talkers, close-talkers, gays, lesbians, being a virgin, women with man hands, bubble boys, fat people, anorexics, smokers, people who aren't master of their domain, women with noses jobs, catfights, people who don't move their arms when the walk, mootching food from your neighbor, people who can't drive,re-gifting, de-gifting, being a face painter, being a soup nazi, being nazi, being a communist, being an Andrea Doria survivor...
It was funniest show. It had everything.
It was hard to take the show seriously when George had girlfriends who were actually hot.
Glad I read down a ways, that is EXACTLY what I was going to post. The marvel about the NY Mayor episode is that it aired like the day after the election. They must have made two episodes, one with Dinkins winning and another with G.
the author of this article is several years late picking up on the philosophy of Seinfeld. Thomas Hibbs wrote a book, I believe, called "Nihilism in Popular Culture" which focused extensively on Seinfeld. Dr Hibbs visited my college 6 yrs ago and talked about this. He basically made the same points as this article does. The characters on Seinfeld embody the nihilist way of life. They care about nothing other than themselves; they mock family life, religion, and interpersonal relationships. In that sense they are not unlike many contemporary liberals. When I lurk on the DUmp, I see the same kind of mindset, only with far less humor than the characters on Seinfeld had.
That being said, Seinfeld was still a very funny show (most seasons, at least). I think anyone with an iota of sense could watch it, enjoy it, but also realize the characters were unpleasant people that one would not want to be like or be friends with. The show did a good job of not promoting nihilism by portraying the nihilist characters as unlikable folks who get into situations where things blow up in their faces in the end. This is actually better than many other sitcoms. There have been several other TV shows that promote the same "values" as Seinfeld did, but instead portrayed their nihilistic characters as likable, funny, happy people. "Friends" comes to mind. This kind of sitcom nihilism is far more insidious than Seinfeld's is.
No one is saying you have to be friends with them. That's kind of the point. Their antics are amusing, but they are shallow selfish people.
The humor is in the observations and the behavior of these people.
SD
How old is this author? Does he really think the "urban, liberal wing" of the Democrats is something that happened in the last 15 years?
SD
Well, the cat lived and you have Cosmo Kramer to thank.
Elaine: Hold on kitty, dinner's coming.
Kramer: Yeah, that's a hall of famer.
Elaine: Alright, let's do it.
Kramer: Alright, here we go. Yeah, watch that baby slide...[Puts a slice of meat under the door.]
Elaine: Come on, come on kitty...[slice disappears] ooh...how about that; it worked! Wow, can I borrow that thing for a while?
Kramer: Oh no, I don't think so.
Elaine: Why not?
Kramer: Well, you're not checked at on it. Kramer: Well, where the meat goes? Elaine: Right there. Kramer: Where do you turn it on? Elaine: Right there. Kramer: But where does the meat go?
Of course, we know Seinfeld tackled racism in its many forms - folks who are anti-dentites, for example.
If someone wants to talk about Libs in the movies or tv, what about Meet The Frockers, Now there are liberals making fun of themselves and Conservatives. The stars rarely do anything in life non political.
The show could be really funny and at times hilarious but they really treated conservatism in the worst possible light.
That is, not even worthy of being considered as an option.
Casual sex was so totally approved of that it wasn't given a second thought. They approved of abortion so much that everyone simply agreed not to eat at some Pizza place because the owner was against abortion.
Sort of like I refuse to eat at a restaurant which got an F in it's last health inspection.
I quit watching because it is so insidious. It clearly treats the radical left and extreme lack of sexual morality as so much a "given", that no other option is even worth considering.The fact that they do not "preach" is what makes it so dangerous. They just slip it in.
The fact that it is well done makes it that much more dangerouos.
Well, the cat lived and you have Cosmo Kramer to thank.
She may be talking about the Tonight Show episode where George tells Corbin Bernsen the story of how he forgot to feed a girlfriend's cat while she was out of town.
That's classic George. "It was an old cat. I'm not buying her a brand new cat."
SD
They should have their own schools.
SD
I guess you never saw Elaine and Puddy go to a priest for their counselling. He told them, in no uncertain terms, that they're both going to hell.
Of course the show reflected the largely promiscuous society in which is was set. But none of the characters moral shortcomings went unpunished.
They approved of abortion so much that everyone simply agreed not to eat at some Pizza place because the owner was against abortion.
You obviosuly missed the glee with which Jerry loved testing Elaine's newfound committment to only supporting "pro choice" people. From inquiring of Poppy in the middle of a meal in his restaurant, to asking about the status of her new boyfriend, the mover.
Again, for those who didn't seem to get the memo, these characters are not put out there in order to emulate.
SD
Actually I couln't think of better examples to make my point.
Poppy's a little sloppy.
Seinfeld was and is awesome, and I'm a proud member of the right-wing conspiracy.
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